Venn’s first 360 video online!

The video was an incredible learning curve in which we got up to speed on 360 video and audio production. First, we researched different methods for producing the video – in this case using a ball of Go Pro cameras whose images were stitched together in post production. We research 360 audio recording techniques, and rented a Tetramic – an ambisonic microphone by Core Sound – from Mutiny Media. You can hear its recordings in this video, in the moments where the camera is stationary and the Audi moves around it. We researched the post-production, testing a few different sets of plugins for mixing in 360. We used the Facebook 360 Spatial Workstation to mix the audio. These guys are incredible developers, taking questions and feedback from the community of users via a Facebook group. And seriously, if they can’t solve your problem with a single comment, their answer is usually “we’re already working on it”, and the problem is solved in the next update. Their latest update handles exporting not only the audio but the video as well, formatted and tagged with metadata ready for different platforms.

Adam was the recordist for the shoot with Gaucho, working with a great team, placing radio mics for specific FX and dialogue, hiding a Zoom H2N in the car, and using the Core Tetramic and a Zoom H6 for the exterior atmospheres. Extra FX such as the-wind-in-your-face were recorded into the Zoom H2N using their spatial firmware update which was unavailable at the time of shooting.

When it came to post-production, the ambisonic recordings were decoded within the DAW, the Zoom’s quad recordings and the mono recordings positioned in 360 space and the music made to change as little as possible when the viewer changes their focus. However, a few problems in post-production limited the use of 360 effects, as you can hear in the video. In fact, due to time restrictions the video was published originally in stereo. The version below is adapted mainly to include the ambisonic recordings, and still has a few bugs. However, in the interest of advancing people’s experiences with and knowledge of 360, here it is.

Distribution is also a challenge. Currently, VR platforms are spread across lots of different formats, requiring various hardware and file specifications. So, for now, this driving experience is available over YouTube and we intend to have other projects on other platforms soon…

For more online 360 videos, search through Facebook (who are doing great things in advancing 360 sound) and YouTube. Also, keep an eye on our web site – we have more 360 experiences to come!

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